[princered]

Hi All,
Can anyone tell me the best settings for my nikonD3200 for taking some pictures at a pop/ rock/ soul concert at The Royal Albert Hall, I will be sitting in one of the Loggia boxes near the back of the hall, so I guess flash will be useless, so I wondered what the best settings would be ..
Many thanks Ian

[John M]

Highest ISO available, I would think. If it was me, I would be in place as early as possible and do some test shots before the concert starts.

[EdMak]

Doubt if flash would be allowed, or, pics? Depth should not be an issue, so F5.6 or around, depending on lens used. High ISO, shutter speed should then be on your side. Ed.

[John M]

Following on from Ed's post, might be worthwhile to check that they will let you in with a DSLR.

[EdMak]

Love to know the final outcome please. Ed.

[Wall-E]

Hi All,
Can anyone tell me the best settings for my nikonD3200 for taking some pictures at a pop/ rock/ soul concert at The Royal Albert Hall, I will be sitting in one of the Loggia boxes near the back of the hall, so I guess flash will be useless, so I wondered what the best settings would be ..
Many thanks Ian

The best setting is to leave it at home.

From the venue's website:

Cameras & Electronics
Cameras and audio and video equipment are not allowed. Please ensure that all mobile phones, pagers or alarms are switched off before entering the auditorium.

When I went to see Cher in Las Vegas, I had to check my camera before I was allowed in.

[princered]

Many thanks to all, I think it might be right about DSLR but have been before and remember photos being taken... I will call RAH nearer the time (may) and see if they will allow DSLR ..
Thanks again
Ian

[Roz]

Hi All,
Can anyone tell me the best settings for my nikonD3200 for taking some pictures at a pop/ rock/ soul concert at The Royal Albert Hall, I will be sitting in one of the Loggia boxes near the back of the hall, so I guess flash will be useless, so I wondered what the best settings would be ..
Many thanks Ian

Hi, I'm a gig photographer and rather than tell you what you should do, I believe it would be more helpful to tell what I do, so here goes: I use back button photography with Al Servo (this is setting the Auto Focus and Metering to work on a button at the back of my Canon - the Al Servo is to capture movement - as there is always much of this at rock concerts). Backbutton is much faster and enables quick shooting, especially with high speed continuous shots. I never ever use flash at a concert - it's rude to the performers and really not necessary, as the stage lighting should be ample. I do not use high ISO as this causes artifacts in the final shot, so set it at around 480 or less if I can get away with it. The real must - and this would be of benefit to you bearing in mind your seating - is the lens. A 70-200mm fast lens (f2.8) is an absolute must as this gives you close-ups and full stage shots from your proximity to the stage - which is quite far back, but close enough to get some great close shots with the extended to 200mm lens. Aperture is much more important than ISO to prevent 'bleed' from coloured lighting. But don't be afraid to use the lighting for atmosphere. If you don't own a 70-200mm lens then I suggest you hire one for the occasion. YOu don't need a horrendously expensive one - I use a Tamron which is a great lens and only half the price of the Canon equivalent.
I hope this helps.

[danielbennett2020]

When shooting in concert situations with lower shutter speed, I find bracing my camera against a rail or a seat or a post or even in my lap. And don't forget to take photos of the people enjoying the concert. Take lotsa photos and then pick the best.

[Peter E]

Hi All,
Can anyone tell me the best settings for my nikonD3200 for taking some pictures at a pop/ rock/ soul concert at The Royal Albert Hall, I will be sitting in one of the Loggia boxes near the back of the hall, so I guess flash will be useless, so I wondered what the best settings would be ..
Many thanks Ian

Hi Ian,
Very interesting set of answers you received to your post. It is a subject I am very interested in too. I recently spent a Tinsel and Turkey weekend at a Warners hotel.
Their musical floor shows are quite spectacular, so too was the Pantomime they put on. By the way I use a Sony AK 58 SLR, with an 18-55 lens, which is a fantastic Camera, but I did find that the stage lighting was insufficient for really high quality picture detail, even sitting not too far away (Just across the dance floor from the stage) and of course the built in flash is not really powerful enough to project that far! As some one said earlier, it's not that nice for the performers to have flashes going off in their face all the time. Eventually I resorted to using my HD Video, with very passable results, though it was still affected by low stage lighting.
I still tend to use all the cameras own settings, as it is brilliantly competent at selecting the right scene, and setting for itself, normally!! but I am sure that if I had known a bit bit more about the use of manual settings I could have set it up to get greater clarity of picture on the relatively low lighting. As far as I can see, I couldn't have set the aperture size larger to let in more light, because of the speed of movement on stage. Difficult one, I wish you luck, but I imagine they probably won't want to allow photography at the R.A.H.
Peter.